Canada fights COOL

Thu, 2009-01-01 12:00

Claiming that mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) is negatively impacting their meat and livestock exports to the U.S., the Canadian government says it will seek formal consultations with the U.S. government regarding COOL under the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute-settlement process. The Canadian Minister of Trade said, Under these circumstances, Canada has no choice but to assert its

Claiming that mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) is negatively impacting their meat and livestock exports to the U.S., the Canadian government says it will seek formal consultations with the U.S. government regarding COOL under the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute-settlement process.

The Canadian Minister of Trade said, “Under these circumstances, Canada has no choice but to assert its WTO rights in the defense of our exporters.”

WTO consultations allow disputing parties to resolve the issue through formal discussions. If no resolution is reached during the 30-day consultation period, the matter can be referred to a WTO dispute settlement panel.